Zack Sabre Jr. Eyes First Title Defense at Royal Quest IV

If Zack Sabre Jr. captures the IWGP World Heavyweight Championship next month, his first defense will be on home soil.

NJPW has announced Sabre vs. SANADA for Royal Quest IV in London on Sunday, October 20. Although the bout is currently a non-title special singles match, Sabre has declared he will defend the IWGP World Heavyweight Championship if he wins it beforehand.

Sabre is set to face Tetsuya Naito for the IWGP World Heavyweight Championship at King of Pro Wrestling on October 14. He earned the title shot by winning the G1 Climax. Typically, the G1 winner challenges at Wrestle Kingdom, but Sabre opted for an earlier date, aiming to enter Royal Quest in the UK as champion.

The match with SANADA was set up when SANADA pinned Sabre in a tag match on Wednesday and issued the challenge.

Two matches are now confirmed for Royal Quest IV:

- Zack Sabre Jr. vs. SANADA

- NJPW Strong Openweight Tag Team Champions TMDK (Shane Haste & Mikey Nicholls) vs. Hiroshi Tanahashi & Tomohiro Ishii